The Band Plays On
by siriusondrun
Summary: It wasn't like this was something he could just hide until it happened and never have to tell anyone. He was going to have to tell Kurt sooner or later.


**A/N: Written because pixolith brought up the idea (_As_ _Kurt_ _knew_ _about_ _Dave__'__s_ _transfer,_ _I_ _now_ _want_ _a_ _fic_ _where_ _Dave_ _tells_ _Kurt_ _he_ _is__leaving_ _Mckinley_ _and_ _Kurt__'__s_ _reaction_ _to_ _it.)_ and my brain sparked immediately. :)**

**Disclaimer: Glee is not mine.**

It wasn't like this was something he could just hide until it happened and never have to tell anyone. He was going to have to tell Kurt sooner or later. Hands stuffed into his pockets, Dave slumped up the front stairs to the Lima Public Library, shoes scuffing hot pavement and eyes locked on the ground.

They'd started meeting here at the beginning of the summer; it was an easy location to coordinate at and it was the one place Dave felt like there was a large enough level of plausible deniability for them to have happened to run across one another. Kurt did his best to be unconcerned about being seen with someone that the better part of this end of town thought was a psychopath when it came to him, but Dave was pretty sure Burt Hummel would still chase him down with a 12-gauge as soon as look at him. So they met up half-secretly in the reference section of the library; Dave generally sat and listened while Kurt spoke, hands fluttering to and fro over whatever he was talking about that day. Today had been meant to be the planning stages of that support group thing Kurt was so gung-ho about, but Dave knew he couldn't keep this up any longer. School was going to be starting in less than a month for the both of them and he wouldn't let Kurt get all worked up over the two of them doing this when only one of them would actually be showing up.

"Hey," Dave muttered. Kurt looked up from his phone, one corner of his mouth quirked up in that way it always did when he was texting that prep school douche he was dating. Dave swallowed back the heartburn-sharp stab in the center of his chest and forced himself to look Kurt in the eye.

"There you are," Kurt said. It was his customary greeting, even when Dave was early or on time. Dave supposed it was an easy routine to fall back on, with Dave being the punctuality-challenged fuckup and Kurt being the gracious host putting up with it. Roles they knew they could fill; roles that made this weird..._thing_ they had going this summer seem a infinitesimally more understandable. "I've got _plenty_ of things for us to discuss," Kurt continued, phone dropping onto the table. One hand gestured to the scrolls of paper smoothed onto the table and held down with what looked like every paperweight in the library; all of them were swathed with flags and slogans ranging from the classy and understated to the extreme and glitter-coated. Hands on his hips, Kurt's smirk was equal parts superior and genuinely proud. "I figure we should pick out a few options and perhaps start from the down-low and work our way up in the recruitment," Kurt explained, touching the corners of the papers in order of what he seemed to think they should go in.

The desire to just go with it made Dave's tongue turn to lead. He could just play along, keep morale up since Kurt had obviously spent so much time and effort on all of this. That wasn't fair to either of them, though, and if nothing else he owed Kurt fairness now. "I need to talk to you," Dave croaked, voice weak.

"I know some of these are a little much," Kurt cut across him, voice picking up pace, "but that's why we're doing this now. If we're going to get this started at McKinley there definitely needs to be a consensus."

_We._ It was funny how that one word felt like a lullaby and prison sentence. "I'm transferring," Dave blurted out before he lost his nerve, voice too loud in the library's muffle.

An existential record scratched off its player somewhere behind Kurt's eyes. The other boy broke off mid-tangent, hand still resting on the least-glittery corner of one poster, and turned owlish-wide eyes on Dave. "Wait, what?" he said blankly. Dave felt the tips of his ears burning and looked away.

"My dad's letting me...not go to McKinley for senior year," Dave said. "After...after last year, all the shit that went down, you know? So I'm going to Lima High West this year. For senior year. For a clean slate, I guess. So I...I'm sorry I'm not gonna be around for this." The urge to ramble nervously battled with his caught voice and he looked everywhere but at Kurt. "Still, though, this is a good idea, you know? So, you should keep it up. Run it with the glee club or Berry or Hudson or something."

"Oh." Kurt blinked, looking down at the posters. "I just...I thought this was going to be your thing. Our thing."

He didn't mean it the way Dave wished he did, but it still hurt. Dave rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah," he muttered. "Sorry."

"No, no don't apologize," Kurt said quickly. He seemed to come out of the daze and began to gather up the papers, scattering weights as he did. "Whatever you have to do to feel right, Dave," he said, that too-wide, plasticky "brave" smile firmly in place. "Good luck at your new school."

Dave nodded once. It seemed like he shouldn't let it end there, like should say something, but when he turned back to face Kurt his voice was gone. So instead he just put his hands in his pockets and walked away, nothing left to say.


End file.
